Foundry Daily News

Mercedes-Benz new plant to add more than 1,000 jobs

Mercedes-Benz is moving the entire production of its sprinter van to the Lowcountry.

Operation is set to get underway by the middle of 2018. The expansion is Ladson means more jobs will need to be filled.

The company says the new paint shop and body shop will add about 1,300 local jobs over the next two years. The jobs range from office positions to manufacturing.

Since Mercedes-Benz opened in 2006, nearly 1,000 jobs have been added in Charleston. Workers have been doing the final assembly, but now they will be building the vans front to end with the help of nearly 200 robots.

“Two new facilities, the body shop and the paint shop. In the past, we have been a reassembly here in Charleston, that means we have reassembled vehicles that have already been pre-assembled in Germany. We don’t do that in the future anymore. We will build them here from scratch,” said President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz in Ladson, Michael Balke.

The company adds that there is a lot of growth opportunity for employees.